New Amp: Marshall 6100LM

Finally added another Marshall to the collection! This time another 3 channel one, and from around the same era as my TSL. This one dates from 1997, very late in the production run of these 6100LM’s and is equipped with 5881 power tubes.

I’m very happy with this amp and it barely steps on the toes of my TSL. It does cover some of the same ground, but the tones of this model are definitely more classic sounding than the TSL, especially the crunch channel, though it sadly lacks the TSL’s great spring reverb.

The most exciting part of this amp for me is the “LM” lead channel - I thought the TSL had a good amount of gain but really felt best boosted with the gain rolled down. This 6100LM needs no boost to achieve the same level of gain - especially with the mid boost switch pressed in. Channel 2 is also capable of a similarly massive amount of gain with both switches in (Mode C), though it lacks the mid boost ability. Also usable on channel 3 is a “contour” switch, which shifts the mid frequencies and scoops some of it out. While I don’t usually use the contour switch, my first impression is that with that switch in and the gain turned up can get very brown sounding, and could probably do a great impression of the Unchained riff.

New Amp: VHT Pittbull 50/CL

I picked this up really on a whim. Usually I research for months/hours of clips, forums, reviews etc, but I only knew that this was a popular amp for metal styles and a few minutes I spent playing a VHT Pittbull 50/ST in a guitar center about 5 years ago.

Well I am sure glad I did, because this is a fantastic amplifier. Somewhat unique to Pittbulls, this one is optioned with tube powered spring reverb, and no graphic EQ. I’m sure the graphic EQ is great to have, but I love the ambience the reverb adds with its relatively short tail, and I can always add an EQ to the FX loop later. Also a very cool feature is the switchable 5U4 tube rectifier, which can be set to both channels, or none, or only on Red but not Green (my preferred setting).

Both channels can be set exactly the same, which I really like as I can dial in two high gain tones, or two crunch tones, or clean/high gain or anything in between.

New Amp: Splawn Quickrod (2008)

Since the Laney AOR didn’t quite scratch the JCM800 itch, I went on the hunt again. A local vintage music shop had been posting listings on craigslist, but the owner does not ship. I saw a JCM800 2204 in some photos, so I took a day and drove down to see what was in the shop.

This shop is Jimmy’s Vintage Music of Auburndale FL, a beautiful small town roughly halfway in between Orlando and Tampa. It was no let down - vintage Fenders, Marshalls, and all manner of beautiful guitars were on display.

After trying out the JCM800 2204 and feeling that the master volume was just too difficult to control, the knobs very easy to rotate and slightly scratchy at the lowest settings due to age made it hard to imagine taking it home to my studio. The owner suggested I try the white Splawn, complete with a road case and matching white 4x12 Splawn cab.

I was immediately thrilled by the sound - it wasn’t overly gainy, but it was much thicker, fuller, and more in line with the modded Marshall tones I wanted out of this type of amp while keeping its vintage Character. After some quick negotiating, I took the head home sans cab and road case. The cab was fantastic - no argument - but I just couldn’t justify the space at home.

New Amp: Laney AOR 50 Series II

While I love my current amps, I’ve been on the lookout for something a little more classic sounding. I’ve read that Warren Dimartini of Ratt, one of my favorite guitarists, used Laneys on stage in the 80s and heard these AOR models compared to the JCM800s of the time.

However, these are priced far lower than any JCM800 I’ve seen, this one I picked up for only $350 on Reverb! (This is my first Reverb purchase as well).

My first impressions are that it is no JCM800 clone, or at the very least the circuit is different enough that it isn’t a replacement for one. The AOR channel has quite a bit more gain on tap, and the regular channel is much darker than any 2203/2204 I’ve played. There are several “pull” knobs that add in boosts in the EQ, so it’s definitely more versatile than a stock JCM800 type amp.

So far, my favorite setup is using the “AOR” channel with the bright engaged, but the normal channel without. I can dial in a decent dirty clean without being ear piercing, then footswitch to the AOR channel for a huge gain boost as well as cutting through better with the additional highs the bright switch adds.

More Details Here

New Amp: Laney Linebacker 100R

Happened across this one in my local GC super cheap. After some quick googling, I found these came with a few variations of nice vintage Celestion speakers… the salesperson wouldn’t let me open it in the store (closed back) so I bought it, took it out to my car and opened it up in my trunk instead.

I was pleased to find an ‘88 Celestion G12H-100 speaker - I knew it would be nice but I didn’t expect it to be as good as it is - one of my favorite speakers so far!

New Amp: Jet City JCA2212C

Back when I was searching for my first tube amp, I settled on a Marshall TSL. However, near the top of my list was the Soldano Avenger, or Hot Rod 50, which could be found in the low $1000 range at the time. I never got my hands on a real Soldano, but with the Jet City amps out using very similar circuit designs it’s hard to argue with them for the price.

While browsing the MusiciansFriend website, I found an open box JCA2212 combo amp in “fair” condition for a very low price - $193. It arrived with some large dents on the top panel, but otherwise it’s in good condition and the amp sounds perfectly fine.

The stock Eminence speaker is close to the Legend series, though I’m not wowed by it. I plan to purchase a Celestion Creamback speaker instead and see how that sounds instead.

These Jet City amps are also popular modding platforms, since they have relatively simple circuit designs and the Soldano circuits are easily reversed so in theory, you could modify a Jet City amp to be nearly identical to a real Soldano amp.

I planned out and purchased a number of different caps and resistor values to try in different areas of the circuit. Initially, I installed 5x 3-way mini switches, but settled instead of some larger 2-way switches with component values that made a more noticeable change. This was my first experience with modifying amps and I had a blast and learned a lot. Looking forward to tinkering with some other amps in the future!

New Amp: EVH 5150 III 50w Head

I came across this one at my local Sam Ash music store. The amount of gain and how thick and full it sounded really surprised me so I worked out a deal and took it home.

It’s a great compliment to my Marshall TSL, which has a dryer tone with more upper mids and less bass. The EVH can be dialed in conservatively for classic rock tones but the fun to me is going all out on the red channel, which is as saturated as the 5150/6505 it is based on but with more hollow sounding mids and more complexity, making it sound a little more clear and articulate.

More Details Here

New Amp: ADA MP-1

I’ve heard great things about these and spotted one at the same Musicgoround I purchased the TSL head from. While staying over at a friend’s place in Atlanta one weekend, I went and picked this up. It has some really killer tones, and I’ve been playing it run into the FX return of my TSL head. Dialing in tones is a little tedious but they can be saved to any of 128 user presets, and can be recalled with a few taps of the front panel arrows or with a MIDI footswitch.

This is definitely more classic sounding than my TSL, and a lot darker. My only complaint is it is also noisier, especially at high gain settings.

(This is the earliest picture I can find of it)

More Details Here

New Amp: Marshall JCM2000 Triple Super Lead

I have been searching for a real tube amp to replace my VOX AD30VT practice amp for a long time now. I’m loving the sounds I get testing out a Mesa Dual Rectifier in a local shop, but after playing a Marshall JCM800 2205 in a Guitar Center I’m thinking that a Marshall amp of some kind might be closer to the classic metal tones I’m after than the rectifier. I also really liked the Blackstar HT-100 head, as well as the HT-60 combo, but missed the “crunch” channel on the HT-20 and HT-40 models. Either way, all of these seem to be a little less clear sounding than the Marshalls.

Enter the TSL - Marshall’s previous flagship amp (prior to the JVM) and featuring three channels, covering ground all the way from clean up to high gain. I never played one before, but watched plenty of youtube videos and listened to clips so it was on my want list.

I found a used one at a Musicgoround in Lilburn, GA, not the easiest drive but I could justify stopping there on my drive home from Atlanta. I stopped by with my Vox AD30VT, as well as a high quality crash to trade on it. After playing it for some time, I was really loving the sounds, but the footswitch was not fully working. The shop manager was great and helped work out a deal with me, so I could either try to repair the footswitch or buy a new one if needed.

Once I bought it, I had to sit with it in my girlfriend’s apartment and no guitar or speaker for a whole weekend - it was torture!